


I Will Love You With Urgency But Not With Haste

by SoldierBorn87



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alpha Stiles, Angst with a Happy Ending, Beta Derek, Consent Issues, Discussions of mpreg, M/M, Mates, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pack Politics, Werewolf Politics, mentions of other teen wolf characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-04-01
Packaged: 2018-01-17 20:23:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1401298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoldierBorn87/pseuds/SoldierBorn87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There he is.”</p><p>Derek followed the direction of his sister’s gaze and was far from impressed by what he saw. The wolf in question was leaning against the far back wall, well away from most of the other guests, attention wholly focused on his phone. Young and a bit scrawny, he looked more like a pup than a monster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Will Love You With Urgency But Not With Haste

**Author's Note:**

> Please be aware that this story is a work in progress and as such the rating and warnings may change as things develop. Also, if you think I have missed tagging something that could be a potential trigger please let me know.
> 
> The title is inspired by the Mumford & Sons song "Not With Haste".
> 
> And, as always, much thanks to Ruby for her awesome beta-ing skills and encouragements. This story would not be possible without her support.

“There he is.”

Derek followed the direction of his sister’s gaze and was far from impressed by what he saw. The wolf in question was leaning against the far back wall, well away from most of the other guests, attention wholly focused on his phone. Young and a bit scrawny, he looked more like a pup than a monster. 

“How do you know he’s the one?” 

Laura shrugged, which was her way of saying it was an alpha thing.

“He doesn’t look like much,” Cora said, flicking some non-existent fluff off the shoulder of her dress.

Like most of those in attendance, the Hales were dressed to impress. Laura and Cora had their hair done up and wore complementing silver and gold cocktail dresses with black accents, while Derek wore black dress pants and a black dress shirt, accented with white-gold cufflinks and a thin silver tie. He’d tried to get out of wearing the tie, but Laura had put her foot down.

Glancing back at the wolf Laura was warning them against, Derek took in his decidedly casual appearance: black jeans and a dark burgundy button-down he hadn’t even bothered to tuck in. Derek didn’t often envy others, he didn’t really see the point, but oh, what he wouldn’t give to be like that wolf and not have to care about his appearance tonight.

“Trust me,” Laura replied, drawing Derek’s attention back to her. “Of all the wolves gathered here, that’s the one you most need to avoid. I don’t want to see either of you anywhere near him. Do I make myself clear?”

Derek nodded and Cora rolled her eyes.

“I mean it,” Laura growled. 

“All right,” Cora huffed. “I promise I’ll avoid the skinny loser in the corner. Anything else?”

“Just don’t embarrass me,” Laura said, giving her a hard look. “And stay away from the Alpha Pack too. We need to walk away from this summit with allies, not more enemies.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Cora muttered, taking off towards the buffet tables. 

“Derek –”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on her.” It was mostly what he was there for anyway.

“Thanks,” Laura said, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze before turning and disappearing into the crowd to mingle. 

Derek watched her leave, praying things would go well. There would be other opportunities throughout the weeklong gathering for them to socialize and work on building the foundations for potential alliances, but none were as essential to making a good impression as tonight. It was why Laura had given them the ‘best behaviour’ speech _twice_ before allowing them to leave their rooms.

Derek sighed and headed towards where he’d last seen Cora. Personally, he hated social gatherings. If it weren’t for the danger threatening their pack, not to mention the fact that he was obligated as Laura’s Second to be here, Derek would have gladly skipped out on this evening’s festivities. 

Hell, if it weren’t for the fact that her seat on the Council was being challenged, Derek was sure Laura would have skipped out on most of the events scheduled for this year’s High Council summit. It wasn’t like she enjoyed social gatherings any more than he did. 

Derek found Cora hovering near the dessert table by the bar, exchanging what looked to be a recently emptied wine glass for a full one.

“Cora,” he hissed, grabbing her arm. “You shouldn’t be drinking. Not tonight.”

“Mind your own business, Der.” She said, yanking her arm away. 

“You are my business.” Derek said, reaching out, intent on taking the glass from her, only to have his sister twist away from him and growl. 

“You’re _not_ my Alpha! And you’re certainly not my parent, Derek. So _back. Off!_ ”

Derek ground his teeth as he watched his younger sister storm off. Fuck. Laura was going to lose her shit when she found out Cora was drinking. It was hard enough trying to deal with Cora’s alcoholism in the privacy of their own territory, but to have her flaunt her issues here, in public, when she knew how badly they needed to make a good impression? It went beyond reckless. Derek couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through her head.

He started to go after her, only to have a low voice draw him up short.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.”

“Oh?” Derek said, whirling around, “And what makes you –” He trailed off the instant he realized he was speaking to the one wolf Laura had explicitly told him to stay away from. How had he gotten so close without Derek noticing?

“My father was an alcoholic,” the wolf admitted, not bothering to look up from where he was picking through the desserts and adding a few to his plate. “So I know a thing or two about how to handle them. Right now, the best thing you can do is give that girl some space.”

“I…” Derek wasn’t sure what to say. Or even if he was allowed to say anything. The wolf beside him was allegedly one of the most powerful – not to mention dangerous – alphas in the room. 

“Are you interested in some dessert?” the wolf said, finally looking up. “Personally, I think the cherry tarts smell amazing.”

Derek shook his head. He really should go track down Cora, if not Laura, but for some reason he couldn’t fathom, he found himself reluctant to look away from the wolf’s warm golden-brown gaze, much less leave his presence. Up close the wolf didn’t look nearly as young as Derek had first assumed – actually, he could very well be older than Cora – and he definitely had some muscle behind his lean lines.

“Your loss,” the wolf shrugged, popping one of the aforementioned fruit tarts in his mouth and moaning. “Mmm, perfect.” God, Derek had never heard something so pornographic outside of a bedroom before. He felt his body react instantly.

“Oh, interesting.” The wolf’s eyes darkened. “Perhaps,” he said, setting his plate aside and taking a step closer, crowding into Derek’s space, “it’s a different kind of dessert you’re hungry for?”

Derek licked his lips as his heart started to race. He needed to go. He needed to leave right now. Why the fuck weren’t his feet cooperating?

“What do you say?” the wolf asked, grinning up at Derek and grasping his hip with one hand while running the other slowly up Derek’s stomach and chest before circling it around his tie and drawing Derek in closer. “You want to get out of here?”

“Um,” Derek swallowed, not sure what to say. He was having a really hard time just remembering to breathe with this frankly brazen wolf so close, never mind trying to remember why exactly his brain was screaming at him that this was a bad idea. “I- I want…”

“Yes?” The wolf asked, bringing his face in close so he could nose along Derek’s neck and jaw line, breathing him in. Derek instinctively tilted his head back and closed his eyes, shivering as he felt the wolf swipe his tongue teasingly along the line of his jugular. “Tell me what you want,” he whispered next to Derek’s ear.

Derek groaned. “I want…”

“Derek!”

Derek jumped back – though the wolf didn’t him let him go far, keeping one hand locked tight around Derek’s bicep – as Laura came storming towards them.

“Alpha Hale,” the wolf greeted Laura when she reached them. “Is there something I can do for you?” His tone was perfectly polite, though Derek noticed his eyes held a glimmer of annoyance.

“Alpha Stilinski,” Laura returned in a cool tone. “You can return my beta.”

“Aww, and we were just starting to have some fun,” Stilinski said, making no effort to remove his hand from Derek’s arm.

“Let. Him. _Go_ ,” Laura said, her eyes flashing red.

Stilinski rolled his still brown eyes. “Fine, take him,” he said, relinquishing his hold on Derek. 

Once he was free, Derek quickly moved to stand behind his sister, even though it took everything within him to leave the other alpha’s side. And going by the thunderous look on Laura’s face, she knew he was feeling conflicted about joining her. Fuck, what was wrong with him?

“Excuse us,” Laura said, as she started leading Derek away, being careful to keep herself between him and the other alpha. 

“Oh, Laura,” Stilinski called, forcing them to pause and turn. “Just one more thing.”

Laura crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t think this is over.” 

Derek heard Laura’s heart quicken as they watched Stilinski deliberately turn his back on them, grab his discarded plate, and walk away. The entire ballroom had gone so quiet that his footsteps seemed to echo long after he had left the room. 

~~+~~

The silence only lasted as long as Stilinski’s heartbeat remained audible to the betas in the room. Once it was out of ear, the ballroom quickly filled with the dull roar of dozens of whispered voices competing to be heard. 

Aidan focused on a few of the conversations nearest him, but it was more out of habit than any actual interest. He already had a pretty good idea of what the gossipmongers were going to say.

_“Was that Wolf Bane?”_

_“No way. That wolf’s too scrawny.”_

_“Did you see the way Hale’s Second submitted? No wonder Morgan is challenging her.”_

_“Hale better watch her back. Stilinski is insane.”_

_“Yeah, I heard he killed his own best friend to become Alpha.”_

_“Don’t be ridiculous. McCall wasn’t his friend, Stilinski used magic to trick him.”_

_“Do you think there’ll be an actual challenge?”_

_“I heard Hale was already facing a challenge.”_

_“From who?”_

_“Don’t know. But whoever it is you can bet they’ll back down in the face of Wolf Bane.”_

_“They won’t have a choice. No one messes with that wolf and lives.”_

Aidan snorted before taking a sip of his wine. Where did they come up with this shit? 

“Well, that was certainly interesting,” Ennis murmured, as he joined Aidan by the balcony.

“Indeed,” Kali said, walking passed them and out into the night air. 

Aidan could smell the barely contained rage coming off her in waves. Shit. He glanced at Ennis, but the older wolf was already turning to go after her. Aidan sighed and set his drink aside as he went to join them. If there was anyone in this world who hated Stilinski more than Deucalion, it was Kali. And not even divine intervention would save them if she lost control and attacked him unprovoked. 

“You two can back the fuck off right now,” Kali said without turning around. “I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

“No one said you were,” Ennis replied, laying a comforting hand on her bare shoulder. While he and Aidan were dressed in well-tailored tuxes with red accents, Kali was dressed in a tight black sequined dress, slit up the sides so she could move freely.

“In all honesty, I think it’s Stilinski who’s done something stupid,” Aidan said, leaning back against the railing on Kali’s other side.

His pack mates turned to him with raised eyebrows.

“Think about it. When have you ever known Stilinski to cause a scene like that? Even when he was human, he always did his best to fly as far under the radar as possible. He hates being the center of attention.”

“So?” Ennis asked. “What’s your point?”

“Oh my god, really? Do I have to spell it out for you?” 

“Quit fucking around, Aidan,” Kali ordered, flashing her eyes.

Aidan bit back a challenging growl; this was neither the time nor the place to argue his position in the pack. Instead he let his eyes wander back over the crowd still gossiping within the ballroom and lowered his voice. 

“What’s the one thing that would not only cause one wolf to act out of character, but another to submit to someone _outside of their pack_?” His tone turned bitter, Ethan’s betrayal never far from his mind, and he watched understanding grow on their faces.

“You think…?”

Aidan nodded. “I would bet my life on it.”

“Oh, this is perfect,” Kali said, her glee evident in her tone.

Aidan nodded again. “We’ll have to be very careful in how we go about it, but yes, I think this is the opening we’ve been looking for.”

~~+~~

“What the hell is wrong with the two of you?”

Derek winced at the severity of Laura’s tone. She was using just enough of her alpha voice to make this lecture exceedingly uncomfortable.

After the incident with Alpha Stilinski, Laura had seen no point in hanging around. No one was going to want to associate themselves with the Hale pack now that Stilinski had publically declared an interest in them. So Laura had grabbed Derek, tracked down Cora – who had been drunk and shamelessly making out with another beta, which really was a pittance compared to Derek publicly exposing his throat to an unrelated alpha – and dragged them both back to their rooms. It was more than a little humiliating. 

Now they were sitting on the ends of their beds, watching as Laura paced in front of them, occasionally, as now, pausing in the middle of the room to turn and yell at them. 

“Do you have any idea what you’ve _done_? What you’ve _cost_ us? _Do you even care?_ ”

“I don’t see why you’re mad at me,” Cora snapped. “Derek’s the one who disobeyed you and caused a scene.”

“Don’t see why… _Cora, you’re fucking drunk!_ ”

“I am not!”

“You are. You promised you’d behave yourself while here and yet on the first night – _the very first night, Cora!_ – you’re so smashed you can barely even walk straight!”

Cora opened her mouth to respond, but Laura just shook her head. “No. I don’t want to hear any excuses. This is completely unacceptable. If Erica wasn’t with cub, I’d be calling Boyd right this instant to come and get you.”

“But Derek –”

“I’ll get to him. However, just because your brother fucked up worse, doesn’t mean I’m going to excuse what you did. Do you even know who that beta was that you were tonsil fishing with?”

“Of course not. It doesn’t matter.”

“It most certainly does matter! That was Alpha Keats’ youngest!”

Shit, Derek thought. The Keats pack was one of the oldest and largest packs on the High Council; making a poor impression on them was tantamount to political suicide. Even the fact that Diana Keats was rumored to be on the outs with most of her children wouldn’t help Laura to save face with the Alpha if word got around. Fuck, fuck, fuck. They were well and truly screwed now.

“You’re such a prude, Laura. No one is going to care. Short of throwing the guy down on one of the buffet tables and riding him like a –”

“ _Enough!_ ”

Both Derek and Cora immediately dropped low and exposed their necks as Laura shifted and let the full power of her position be felt. 

“I am sick and tired of your attitude, Cora. For the remainder of this summit, you are forbidden to leave these quarters. Do you understand?”

From the corner of his eye, Derek could see his sister trying to fight Laura’s decree, but it was no use. Cora’s wolf was too submissive. She would never be able to disobey her Alpha no matter how much she wanted to.

“Do you understand?” Laura demanded, grasping Cora’s throat in one clawed hand and forcing her to the ground beneath her. 

Cora whined and tried to turn away, but Laura only tightened her grip.

“Do. You. Understand!”

“Yes, Alpha,” Cora whispered.

“Pardon me?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Cora said.

“Good. Now get out of my sight. I can’t look at you right now.”

Cora quickly scrambled out from under Laura and locked herself in the bathroom. Derek closed his eyes and remained frozen in place, waiting for Laura to turn her focus on him. 

He didn’t blame Laura for being angry; she had every right. Between the two of them, Cora and Derek had destroyed pretty much any chance of attaining enough alliances for their pack to survive the danger they were facing. Add to that Cora’s unwillingness to ever admit fault and it was really just a matter of time before things exploded.

If only Derek had managed to get to Cora sooner and stop her from drinking, or maybe if he had risked bad form and just dragged her off to their rooms when he’d found that glass in her hand – maybe then everything would be different. Maybe then they would still have a chance.

“Derek?” Laura sounded calmer, but Derek didn’t want to chance it. He tilted his neck as much as he could and pressed himself lower to the floor.

“Derek, look at me.”

Derek opened his eyes and saw that his sister had regained her composure, claws and fangs once more hidden behind her human mask, and was sitting calmly next to him.

“Why did you disobey me?” She sounded so tired, so beaten down; it hurt.

“I don’t know what happened. One minute I was trying to stop Cora and the next he was just there.”

“So you decided, what the hell? I haven’t indulged my bad boy reputation in a while. Why don’t I play fast and loose with the most dangerous creature in the room?”

“No! Of course not! You know I would never… I…” Derek sighed, as he struggled to find the words to explain his actions. “Honestly, Laura, I have no idea what came over me. I wanted to walk away. I did. But I… I couldn’t. I don’t know why.”

“Derek?”

“I tried! I swear I did. I told myself to leave, but… the closer he got… the more my resolve just seemed to melt away. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Oh, Der-Bear.” Suddenly Laura was pulling him to her and hugging him close. Derek tried to bite back tears of relief as he realized his Alpha wasn’t going to disown him, his sister wasn’t going to stop caring about him, but it was a losing battle.

“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay. I still love you.”

They sat there on the floor clinging to one another for long uncounted minutes, as they both calmed down. Finally, Laura sat back and held Derek out at arm’s length, leaving her hands on his shoulders.

“I need to ask you something, Derek. And I need you to be honest with me. Okay?”

Derek nodded.

“What did Alpha Stilinski smell like?”

“He…” Derek licked his lips as he fought to remember. At the time he’d been more focused on Cora’s behaviour and then trying to get himself under control and away than on what his nose was telling him. What had the young alpha smelled like? 

Derek thought back to the scents of the crowd and the desserts and the alcohol. He thought back on the flavour of Cora’s breath as she had yelled at him and sharp bit of desire he had felt when Stilinski had mentioned the tarts, his nose automatically focusing on their delicious smell. It was while he was breathing them in that he had caught the alpha’s scent. Sweet and calming like the early morning dewfall, yet heady and comforting like the forest in summer and well loved books.

“Home,” Derek finally whispered. “He smelled like home.”

And that’s when it hit him what exactly had transpired. Derek had met his mate.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for taking the time to read my story. This journey is worth all the more because of you.
> 
> Comments are always welcome.
> 
> And if anyone is curious, this is my [tumblr](http://soldier-born87.tumblr.com/).


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